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Have you heard the one about the waitress stuck in the dumb waiter at Nobu? A few calls to the fire brigade and Crown Security later, and several thousand dollars, and she was out. The staff I’m told didn’t realise that if anything moves in the dumb waiter it stops and must be overridden by a key held by the dreaded management. This story is absolutely true.
There are many myths and legends about restaurants and what really goes on. All I know is that most people in the industry say they are true. When I was at university a friend worked in a casino, where the chef wiped the lavatory bowl with a steak before tenderising it with his boot. Of course, that was for the police who were on the take and deserved it. But do cranky diners deserve that kind of treatment?
If you are a waiter then you probably already follow the Waiter Rant blog and know the book is out and available from Amazon.
To be quite honest, like the ad for Playstation above, it does scare me.
From The Guardian:
“Don’t ever think waiters and restaurant staff are helpless victims. We’re not. There are websites popping up where waiters can list bad tippers by name. Sure, some unimaginative servers will adulterate the food. Not me. I prefer something more elegant. I’ll subtly embarrass you in front of your girlfriend or client. Instead of putting hair in your pasta, I’ll lose your reservation, make your steak medium instead of medium rare, put too much vermouth in your Martini, and seat you next to the men’s room…
You might think it’s a miracle that anyone wants to wait tables, but there’s rarely a shortage of applicants. Waiting tables is as addictive as crack cocaine.”
Or (via Amateur Gourmet) from The Wall Street Journal:
He says that 80% of the people he serves at The Bistro are perfectly nice; the rest are socially maladjusted psychopaths. He also has to contend with servers on drugs and an irritable, jumpy boss: “Like a soldier home from war, his eyes are always scanning the horizon for threats.”
Still, I think I may stick to restaurants with open kitchens from now on.
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{ 14 comments… read them below or add one }
I guess that’s why they are called dumb waiters.
Oh god that video reminded of an obsessive compulsive germ-o-phobic I once met who wouldn’t eat in restaurants for that very reason. I thought it was her sickness…but maybe not.
Quite frankly, if you don’t trust the chef, you shouldn’t go to the restaurant. But if it’s you who’s going to act like an asshole, you should just stay home and nuke a Lean Cuisine or something, and stay the hell away from pleasant society.
Ohhh yuk! I think I’ll stick to blogs that issue warnings to bleaders sensitive to disgusting video clips!
Totally turned off and sooooooooooooooooo afraid to watch the dessert because I do not want to be put off and in fact it turned out ok because once he burnt off the alcohol so did it burn off any of his fifthy germs… open kitchens for me to Ed… nice seeing you today! Vida x
AOF, I think I maybecome a germophobe or at least a food-o-phobe.
Guylian, I’m guessing -only guessing- that you are referring to “you” and general and not me in person.
Ut Si, looking forward to those clips.
Vida, great to bump into you and Michael. i get especiallynervous what theymightdo to food when I’m out with Stephen! x x
Yes you have a point!! I was so jealous but now that you mention the extra chance of being mucked about, I am no longer jealous - you dine at your own risk when you dine with critics!!! Vida x
Vida, we were just a couple of pals catching up - no reviewing or anything. but now you mention it - slightly unfamiliar…gooey…neither of us could place that ingredient (just joking)
hey Ed & Vida,
Am thinking about jumping the puddle & checking out the Melbourne Taste. Is it worth a look?
Ut si, only in Open kitchens! Yes, Melbourne is well worth it.Are you talking about that festival thing? I’m not so sure about that - more marketing perhaps than anything else.
Thx Ed. Just realized there’s another anti-Pulp Mill rally on that weekend anyway. Best do the right thing!
Ut si, yes do - stick it to ‘em.
Ed - yes, I definitely meant ‘you’ in general, not personally. From reading your blog I assume you love good food and wine too much to deliberately harrass the people trying to serve it to you.
I actually gasped in horror when I watched that video… fortunately for me I have only ever worked with chefs who have class (even the brutes) and would never behave like this… on the other hand I know other chefs who just may… very disturbing….a very clever ad.
Ali
oh so many stories and unfortunately the spit in food one is rarely true. With a long time in the industry I have never seen it, perhaps at less professionally run places, but hey do you want to eat there anyway?
I reckon ‘A Waiter’ is right on, often customers behave more poorly than the waiters.
Perhaps a theme of these stories to celebrate Waiters Rant and the loss of Gobbler, is something that I could work on. Trust me you would be surprised!
Jack